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Friday, December 16, 2011

Hello, Hoppers! Welcome to the final stop on this month's Home Decor Blog Hop. I know you've seen some amazing stuff! (Of course, if you're here before the hop starts, you haven't seen it yet! Be sure to come back. Official start time is 10AM on Saturday, Dec. 17th). You should have arrived here from The Stamping Tree House with something amazing from Carey! If not, use the link at the bottom of this post to start the hop from the beginning.

I actually made this project a couple years ago. I used the small Jingle All the Way Decor Elements, a glass block, some silver jingle bells, and some of our retired red organdy ribbon. It's very easy to make. I made three of them and sold them at craft shows. I was sure to keep one for my home, too!

Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you've enjoyed the hop. If you started on my site, you can click here to go to the beginning.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

This month's Birthday Card Bonanza will be on Sunday, Dec. 4th at 3PM. That means NO stamp night on Friday night. I'll be at my first Christmas party of the year!

After I stamped this, I decided that the flourish would look better if it were more subtle, so when you come to make this it'll be stamped in Crumb Cake instead of Soft Suede. That way the greeting will be more prominent, too.

Also, I have limited pearls so some of you will get rhinestones instead.

Cards are $1 each, as always. Let me know how many you'd like to make.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Welcome to the last stop on our SUStars Blog Hop. The hop starts at 10AM EST on Saturday, Nov. 19th. If you're here before then, be sure to come back sometime this weekend to see everyone's wonderful creations!

If you've been hopping along, you should have arrived here from Jayne Stamps. Wasn't her project great? If you'd like to start at the beginning, just click the link at the bottom of this post to get to our home blog.

These are cute little boxes I made using our Matchbox die for the Big Shot. Each one will fit four Hershey's Nuggets perfectly. I like to tell the ladies at the craft shows that they can give an empty box to their husbands before Christmas and tell them to put something sparkly in there. Or, Go for the Gold!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Welcome, hoppers, to the last stop on the SUStars Holiday Hoopla blog hop. (It officially starts at 10 AM EST on Saturday, so come back if you're early!) If you've been hopping along, you should have arrived from Karen's site, Krafting with Karen. If you'd like to start at the beginning, just click the link at the bottom.

Are you a Stampin' Up! demonstrator? If so, we'd love to have you join our little group. Just click here to go to our homepage.

Our hop this month focuses on the 2011 Holiday Mini catalog. My project uses our new Bigz Holiday Stocking and Stocking Accents dies. I also used Frostwood Lodge DSP and Silver Glimmer paper. Two stockings use retired DSP, and the red and white stripes are from Big Top Birthday DSP.

I cut out two stockings for each piece and glued one on the back to make a flat pocket. You could get a pencil or a candy cane in there, but not much else. I made a bunch of these to sell at upcoming craft shows. Personalized while you wait! :o)

Monday, October 10, 2011

Tuesday, October 11th is Stampin' Up!'s World-Wide Book-a-Thon Day! It is our goal to book 10,000 workshops. Part of that goal is to have 6000 of those workshops happen Nov. 1-8. If we can accomplish our goals, there will be prizes for everyone!

Have you wanted to host, but just didn't think you could do it?

"I am busy Nov. 1-8." No problem. We can do it before or after that week. I can include bookings from Oct. 15th - Nov. 30th.

"My house is too small." Again, no problem. You can hold your workshop at my house! I can easily hold 12 people in my stamp room and more if needed. All you need to do is bring a snack and drink. You don't even have to clean your house! Bonus!

"I don't know who to invite." You would be surprised at how many people you know that would actually show up! I can help you find 40 guests to invite in just a few minutes.

"None of my friends would come," or"My friends aren't crafty." Yet. Give them a chance to try it out! People who haven't done anything "arty" since elementary school fall in love with stamping. ANYONE can do it!

"I don't have time." Of course you do. I can tailor your workshop to be as long or short as you need. I can demo three projects or just one. I can do mornings, afternoons or evenings. I can even come to your workplace during your lunch hour and do a quick presentation with a fast project for you and your guests to make. I'm flexible!

"I don't make cards. I'm a scrapbooker." So am I! I have done many scrapbook-focused workshops.

"I don't want free stuff." Actually, no one has ever said that. We all want free stuff!

Wait a second... didn't I say something about prizes? Yes. Yes I did. In addition to our new hostess program (more money to spend on what you want - you no longer have to choose a Hostess set if you'd rather get something else, and more), I will give extra free goodies to all my hostesses!

Book a workshop on Tuesday, October 11th: Get a free pack of your favorite color of card stock

Host a workshop Nov. 1-8: Get two classic ink pads

Workshop total over $400: Get a free stamp set (up to $21.95)

You could potentially earn ALL THREE of those prizes! Geez, I'm giving away the farm. All prizes from me will be added to your workshop to boost your totals. That means more freebies for you!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

“Leftovers” doesn’t sound like a word that fits with “extravaganza” very well, but trust me, it does for this!I generally over-prep for classes or events to be sure I have enough for everyone.My stash of prepped projects is starting to overflow. (In fact, I will be doing Leftovers Pt. 2 soon!) This is where you come in!

On class day, you can come to make cards for $1 each. The box is $2. You should be able to click on the photo to see it larger. I have numbered the projects on the photo so we'll both know which projects we're talking about. Below I will tell you what I have leftover from each project and whether I can make more of it. As always, the greetings shown can be changed.

#1: Medallion card I have four Cajun Craze and four Always Artichoke. I don't have a ton of gold EP, so I cannot make more of those.

#2: Nature Walk robin card I am actually out of the retired DSP used on the bottom, but we can substitute. I have six right now and I can make more.

#3: Square Thinking of You card I have six of these and I can make more.

#4: Paradise tropical leaves card I have four of these and I can make a few more.

#5: Triple Treat Flower card I have two of these and I can make more.

#6: Red square flower card This one uses the Poppin' Pastels technique. I have five of these and I can make more.

#7: Blue flower box I have four of these and when you make them, you can use the stamp set that goes with the punch! It will make your flowers even better! I can make a few more of these.

Give me a call or email me to let me know which projects you'd like to make as well as how many of each. RSVP by Oct. 5.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Sept. 25 at 2PM Make this adorable house (roof opens so you can fill it with goodies!), card, and candy bags for your kids, grandkids, co-workers, school staff, etc.The projects feature our Frightful Sight DSP.Cost for the class is $15.RSVP by September 22.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

(The hop officially starts on Saturday, August 13 at 10AM EST, so come back if you're here before then!)

It's time for the final VC Rocks blog hop of the season. It's hard to believe VC is almost over for the year! But, before we have to say goodbye, we have time for one last fabulous blog hop. If you've been hopping along, you should have arrived from InkPaperStamps with Holly and the Dog. If you'd like to start at the beginning of the hop, click here. This time around, we're focusing on our awesome punches.

I am leading a week of day camp with a Harry Potter theme, so I made a bunch of owl boxes. The kids will get Owl Post every day! Fun!

The face is a flap, so you would just lift up the face to access the inside of the box, which is the body. The face/head is made with the Top Note die for the Big Shot.

The first owl is a barn owl. He's made with Whisper White card stock for the body, Pretty in Pink for the beak and feet and Basic Black for the eyes. He is sponged with More Mustard.

The second owl is a Tawny Owl. It is made with Crumb Cake CS, Barely Banana (retired color) beak and feet and Basic Black eyes. It is sponged with Chocolate Chip. I also made a little stencil for the white blaze between his eyes and sponged it with Whisper White craft ink.

The third owl is a Snowy Owl (like Hedwig!). She is made with Whisper White CS, Basic Black for her beak and feet, and Daffodil Delight, Whisper White and Basic Black for her eyes. She's sponged with Early Espresso.

AND NOW FOR THE PUNCHES! I used both scallop circle punches for belly feathers, the small heart for the beaks, 5-petal flower for the feet, and various circle punches for the eyes.

I used our white gel pen to add accents to the eyes and beaks on all the owls. They were all glued together with Tombow Multi-Purpose Adhesive (love it!).

Holding the CS horizontally, cut the two vertical lines from the edge to the score line. You should make four cuts. If you like (and I do), you can cut a small triangle out of the center flap so that it is better hidden when you assemble your box.

Fold on all score lines and assemble your box.

I had to make little hinges for the backs of the heads so they would sit properly. I just folded up some scrap CS (about 1.75" long, 0.5" wide) and made little triangles. I glued two on the back of each to hold the head on.

I hope you like my owls! I'm quite pleased with them, myself. I especially hope my campers like them! I think they'll have fun getting messages from Hogwarts professors all week.

Your next stop on the hop is Stampin' Stace. I'm sure she'll have something great to share!

Friday, July 22, 2011

Welcome to the last stop on the July SUStars Blog Hop. The hop begins Saturday, July 23 at 10AM EST and runs through Sunday evening. If you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and you'd like to join SUStars, just click here. We'd love to have you!

If you have been hopping along, you should have arrived here from Bluegrass Stamper Studio. If you are starting here on my blog, you can just keep going through the loop. The next stop is the first stop!

Our theme is Movers, Shakers and Summer Mini Make & Takers. For my project, I chose to make a very simple scrapbook page using My Digital Studio. I downloaded Beyond the Garden DSP for MDS, shown on page 24 of our Summer Mini Catalog. I played around with the opacity of some card stock and "cut" the DSP to my liking. One of the benefits of using MDS is grosgrain ribbon in more colors! I have used Pacific Point on this project. I also used drop shadows to make the layers look more real. You can learn more techniques using MDS software on MyDigitalStudio.net. For now, here's my project:

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Today, sadly, was our last day of convention. We started the day with a couple more classes. If we attended at least five classes, we got a new stamp set! It's a great set for demos, with sayings perfect for our business. After our classes, we picked up our free set in the Gathering Place before lunch. We had plenty of time to finish taking pictures of all the displays before they were taken down. After lunch we had our final General Session, with some great demos and FREE STUFF! (We cannot post pictures of products, so I had to erase the images a bit. Sorry!) I also got to take my 10-Year March today! It's always so cool to walk across the main stage. A few of my friends even saw me on the big screens.

As we exited the Main Stage area for the last time, all the displays and decorations were already gone, or nearly so, from the rest of the convention center.

I wish that I could attend convention every year. It is always SO much fun, so inspiring, and so exhausting. LOL It's worth it! I love it!!! Wouldn't you like to come with me next time?

After General Session this afternoon, Carey bee-lined for the Bus line while I ran our bags back to our room. We got on the first bus to the Riverton home office of Stampin' Up! It is a beautiful facility. When you first enter, you see the gorgeous atrium. To the left you can stroll through the "Legacy Museum" where you can see the very first SU catalog (it's pretty pitiful), metal plates for making stamps and displays that are used in our catalogs. We also walked through the idea room, and an adjacent room that is wall-to-wall whiteboards. All visiting demos were invited to write their ideas or anything else on those walls while we were there. We got to look into the HUGE distribution center where all our orders are packed and prepped for shipping. (The stamps are made at another facility in Kanab, UT). Near the driveway entrance are two large rocks with the SU! logo engraved on them. It is always a must-do photo op at the Riverton tour!

Friday, July 15, 2011

We had our opening General Session first thing this morning. Pam Morgan showed us a BUNCH of great stuff that will be in our upcoming Holiday Mini Catalog. I have shown you just a wee taste of the awesome goodies we're about to get!!!

You may notice the lovely wreath in the last picture. Do you see what it's sitting on??? That's right - we're getting our own exclusive scorer!!! It's called Simply Scored and it looks fabulous. It has a track every 1/8" so you can measure ANYWHERE. It also has markers (seen at top of pic) to point at where you want to score, so you don't have to keep looking at your measurements every time you score. The rulers at the top are standard 1-12 inches, and another has 0 in the center (Wooo hooooo!). The numbers on those rulers are printed under a clear plastic, so they won't ever wear off! It comes with a two-tipped stylus and has rubber feet on the bottom so you don't need a mat for it. For a little bonus, there is a compartment on the back edge that is big enough for your bone folder and extra markers, as well as lipstick. LOL Shelli put a lipstick in there to show the size of the opening. :o)

We also did our Make & Takes today, but we only finished two of them. Those of you who are local can come see them all on July 29th at my New Catalog Party! Plus, you'll get to peek at the Holiday Mini! You will LOVE IT!!!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Stampin' Up! has some great displays again this year. Since our theme is GROW, some of these displays will grow during convention. I'll have to come back and take pictures of all the same displays later! You should be able to click on the pictures to see them larger.

Today was a fun-filled day! First we got our convention bags and M&T stamp sets and then we got in line for Memento Mall. I did some swapping since we were in line for an hour! This pic shows only a short portion of the line we were in.
There are tons of goodies at Memento Mall this year. Decks of cards (a favorite souvenir for me wherever I go!), insulated lunch bags and cups, umbrellas, ribbon samplers, clothing, mouse pads and skins for your laptop, totes, SNAIL leashes, pens, and on and on.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

I am at the 2011 Stampin' Up! in Salt Lake City, Utah! Woo Hoooooooo! The activities start tomorrow, so today was arrival day for many, including myself and my roomie, Carey Rogers from Missouri.

We first exchanged some stamped gifts, then had some tastiness at the Blue Iguana, my favorite Mexican restaurant. The Chimis there are SO good. We also had virgin strawberry daquiris. YUM. After that filling meal, we walked a few blocks (to work it off a bit) to The Gateway, the outdoor mall. We found some comfy sandals for Carey and some Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream! MORE YUM! (We are VERY full right now). So much for working off dinner.

This photo shows the view as we walked back to our hotel. I am from Michigan, so seeing mountains is awesome to me! Especially when they still have that pretty snow on them in the middle of July!

Tomorrow the swapping craziness begins. I have about 200 card fronts to swap and 10 teabag holder booklets, for which I made three little pages instead. We can also shop at Memento Mall, tour the Riverton campus (home office and distribution center - many photo ops!) and in the evening, a Convention Kick-Off Party! Fun fun fun!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Welcome to another VC Rocks Blog Hop! If you've been hopping along, you should have arrived from Mary's site, Mimi to Jett. If you'd like to start at the beginning, click here.

Our theme this month is ABC, which means Anything But a Card! I have decided to share yet another of my pieces from my Seasonal Frame class series, which just finished it's second year. This one is our summer frame and features products from our Occasions Mini. (You can click on the picture to see it larger). Luckily for us the stamp set I used, Nature Walk, made it into our brand-new 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog! Woo Hoo! Sadly, the coordinating DSP, Botanical Gazette, did not. Booo. However, you can get it for My Digital Studio! Woo Hoooooo!

The colors used here are Cherry Cobbler, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron and Very Vanilla. I also used a Chocolate Chip Craft Pad with clear embossing powder for two squares (butterfly and bee), and VersaMark with clear EP for the eggs and plant. I added some Moonlight Smooch ink on some wings and one of the eggs for a little shimmer.

BLOG CANDY: A random poster will get a prize! This time, I'll use the Blossom Bouquet Triple-Layer to punch every color in your chosen color family, or a few colors, or whatever you want. LOL I'm flexible.

Thanks for stopping by! Click on one of the GORGEOUS buttons below (yes, I designed them ;o) to back up or hop to the next blog. Your next stop is The Stamping Tree House! Carey will have something awesome, you can be sure.

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July 8th

May 2011

About Me

A wee disclaimer

This is a personal blog of Shari Dudek, an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, and I am responsible for its content. Stampin' Up! does not endorse the use of or contents of the classes, services, or non-Stampin' Up! products I may offer here.